GANDHINAGAR, NOV 25: Engaging consultants to undertake feasibility studies and plan turnarounds of industrial houses is common. But Gujarat’s Jails Minister Jaspal Singh, known for his penchant to do something new, is bringing professional management to relocate and modernise the central jails in the State. The first jails scheduled for a rehaul are the Surat and Vadodara prisons.As a first step, a consultant consortium of CB Richards Ellis South Asia and Environmental Planning Collaborative, Ahmedabad, have been appointed to ‘‘undertake the feasibility study and financial structuring of the project (to shift and modernise Surat jail).’’ A land parcel at Ichhapore on the Hazira 3Road has been selected to relocate the Surat jail. An official release about the appointment of the consultancy too is business-like. It says, ‘‘The consultants will also look into the possibilities of developing various options for the existing jail location by conducting a market and financial analysis of the options to arrive at the Optimal Development Plan.’’ The consultants will develop a concept for modern jails in keeping with the legal provisions and recommendations of the National Human Rights Commission and submit a report to the Jail Welfare and Development Board in four months. The release says CB Richard Ellis is an internationally reputed real estate consultancy firm with operations in India, while Environmental Planning Collaborative is a known urban planning and development firm from Ahmedabad.Jaspal Singh, who envisaged the plan to shift and modernise the prisons, says the exercise is to develop a modern jail with facilities to improve the quality of life of the inmates. , in such a way that when they go out the society absorbs them easily. Their shifting will expand the overcrowded and cramped jails and simultaneously free vast land in the heart of the city for useful purposes which can give value to the overall character of the city, Singh explains.
